University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston President James T. Willerson, M.D., has proposed the allocation of an additional $45 million in Permanent University Funds toward the cost of a new building for the UT Dental Branch. If approved by the UT System Board of Regents, the additional funds would bring the total contributions by the state and UT System to $133 million and enable the school to forgo building the project in phases.

In a town hall meeting July 2, Dental Branch faculty and staff members broke into applause when Dean Catherine M. Flaitz, D.D.S., M.S., announced the news.

“We would be able to move at the same time, all together,” she said. “We have an opportunity now to decide what we really need in the new building, and it will take some creative energy to do that. It’s further evidence that the new replacement building is a top priority in the UT Health Science Center, and it’s also an outstanding vote of support from Dr. Willerson, who will be departing as president in August.”

The Dental Branch had been planning to construct the replacement building in two phases, with educational and administrative facilities in Phase 1, and clinical labs and patient care areas in Phase 2. The Open to Health fundraising initiative has been underway to supplement the $90 million initially promised by UT for the building.

With that promise now possibly increasing to $133 million – and counting another $5 million secured from private donations – Open to Health will focus on supporting capital efforts to realize the full vision for the new school. That vision includes robust funds for research, scholarships and faculty endowments, as well as a state-of-the art facility, according to UTDB Development Director John Greer.

Considerable planning has already gone into the two-phase design, which was approved by the Board of Regents in May. In a July 3 meeting of the UTDB Oversight Task Force, Executive Associate Dean John A. Valenza, D.D.S., stressed that the time has not been wasted. “We will step out of design and back into the programming phase to re-address our space needs, but we’ll be drawing on the planning we’ve already done,” he said.

Facilities that would have been in Phase 2 now must be planned in detail, and decisions must be made about parking and other issues. “Can it be a garage with a bookstore and café? Can we share facilities with other institutions in the area? These are things we’ll be looking at,” Valenza said.

The funding request may be on the Board of Regents’ agenda as early as August.

The new Dental Branch building will be south of Old Spanish Trail, at the corner of Cambridge Street and East Road in an area that is not in a flood zone. In this new location, Houston’s only dental school will be very close to several state-of-the-art research facilities, including UT’s new Biomedical Research and Education Facility, the new Neuroscience Building, and the Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging Research, due for completion later this year.

- Rhonda Moran, UTDB Communication Specialist

Date Posted: 07/22/2008